On May 18th—just a month from now—Hector and
I will legally marry here in the District of Columbia, surrounded by
family and friends. We are immensely fortunate that Hector has now
secured an investment visa that allows him to remain here with me. Many
other couples, however, are not as fortunate. Even if they, like us,
have a marriage, civil union or life-long commitment to each other,
their ability to secure a permanent solution that would allow them to
build a home, family or business together is elusive and difficult to
realize. It shouldn’t be that way, and this Committee has an opportunity
to fix this problem.

Kolbe is one of 20 witnesses to testify before the Senate panel and the only one whose sole aim is in the service of gay binational couples. This year, Kolbe signed the Republican SCOTUS brief opposing DOMA. In 1996, he was outed by The Advocate for having voted in favor of it.

CNN's Don Lemon covered the Boy Scouts' gay ban in a segment Sunday in which two Eagle Scouts appeared: Scouts for Equality's Zach Wahls and John Stemberger, an anti-gay activist with the Florida Family Policy Council who started an organization for homophobes opposed to gays in the BSA called On My Honor.

Stemberger said that opening the Boys Scouts to gay people will destroy it and there is not way that the Catholics, the LDS, or the Baptists will allow it. He also tried to argue that the Boy Scouts are actually fine with gays in their organization, and there's not a "witch hunt" against those that are in it because they are "appropriate, discreet, and not loud and proud."

Wahls, when given his opportunity, calmly destroyed him:

"When people try to say that this is about, you know, 'open' or 'avowed' homosexuality, it's really just a code word for the problem they have with gay people. Being an 'open gay person' is not a whole lot different from being a closeted gay person except for the fact that you have somebody trying to lie and violate the very first part of the Scout law which is that a Scout is trustworthy."

“Thank you so much for all your support over the years.I think the fact that I’m standing here receiving this award actually says more about Canada than it does about me. Because only in Canada could there be such a freak as k.d. lang receiving this award...I am here to tell you my friends and my countrymen that it is OK to be you. It is OK to let your freak flags fly and embrace the quirkmeister that's inside of all of us. And I'm not even just talking artists, I'm talking every single person in this nation has the right to be themselves, live life. Go team go. I love you Canada, thank you so much."

Judge: Lesbian couple can challenge DOMA. "U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall also ordered Friday that the lawsuit, filed last year on behalf of Philippines citizen Jane DeLeon and her spouse Irma Rodriguez, can proceed as a class-action case."

Senators trying to sneak through a massive online sales tax hike:
"As early as Monday, the Senate will vote on a bill that was introduced
only last Tuesday. The text of this legislation, which would
fundamentally change interstate commerce, only became available on the
Library of Congress website over the weekend."

History will remember the 'Gang of Eight' left gays out of immigration reform: "Will you realize that we are human beings in time to include us, or will you decide that we are too politically volatile to risk your broader goals? Will you convince yourself that maybe the Supreme Court will help them, or that you'll do something for the gays later?"

Boston Cardinal O'Malley ties bombings to abortion: “individualism and alienation of our age has spawned a culture of death.”

Brendon Ayanbadejo on FOX Sports: "The NFL is the most popular and most-watched sport in the U.S., capturing some 59 percent of the entire U.S. population as viewers. With 1,696 players on its opening day rosters, the NFL is also the largest professional sports league in North America....What are they waiting for?"

European parliament asks European Commission to step up work against anti-trans discrimination:
“In an EU study to be released next month, we learn that over a third
of transgender people were physically attacked in the last five years.
This shows all the violence and discrimination trans people face, and
the EU must now take this as seriously as possible.”

Portland man's parents quit church over anti-gay stance: "I am deeply disappointed in the congregational vote on Sunday, March 17, 2013 and disappointed in Charlie’s leadership of what was once my church. Several members said everyone is welcome at Spring Hill. What I heard was, you are welcome if you believe what we believe. My son lives on the west coast, because he does not feel welcome here. When he returns home for a visit, he waits outside the church on Sunday mornings so he can say hello to some of the folks that he treasures from his childhood in the church. Does that sound like someone who feels welcomed?"